Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Down 4.1% – Time to Sell?

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) traded down 4.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $62.55 and last traded at $62.55. 29,390 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 113,461 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.02 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $65.27 and a 200-day moving average of $63.19.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $68.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.70 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.70% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 53.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value of $28,950.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $494,641.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value of $28,950.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $494,641.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total transaction of $28,597.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at $119,834.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,635 shares of company stock valued at $914,604. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,847,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,395,000 after purchasing an additional 42,862 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after buying an additional 8,304 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 82.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 12,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $819,000 after buying an additional 5,571 shares in the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $223,000. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $783,000. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Lakeland Financial

Lakeland Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Lake City Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest bearing, interest-bearing checking, savings, money market, NOW, and demand deposits.